Discover the real value of new and vintage guitars. This essential guide gives you the inside scoop on the Guitar market and could literally save you thousands of dollars, or skyrocket your profits. Want a killer advantage? Click here to get your copy today!
Here’s a few tips that will ensure you get a quality instrument and avoid overpaying for your guitar.
Go to a local guitar shop and try out the guitar you’re interested in, even if you plan on buying online. Play as many guitars as you can! Pay attention to the quality of the workmanship, playability and tone of the guitar. Make sure the intonation is ok and check every fret for buzzing. If you’re new to the guitar and not sure what you’re looking for bring a friend who does!
Research! Check out prices and reviews online, ask friends and store staff what they think. Take everyone’s advice with a grain of salt; the owner of your local guitar store may know a lot about guitars but his priority is still making a sale.
Look at a price guide! When it comes to buying anything beyond an entry level guitar it’s worth investing in a price guide. The Electric Guitar Blue Book will help you decide what guitar to buy and how much you should be paying. If you don’t want to buy your own copy, ask a friend if you can borrow theirs.
Know your priorities. Buying online is usually going to get you the best price, but there’s a lot more factors to consider. A small local shop will probably set up your guitar for free and throw in some extras. The biggest advantage to buying in person is that you know exactly what you’re getting.
Take your time and get the guitar that’s right for you. Whether you’re spending 100$ or 3000$ make sure you love the guitar you’re getting. Don’t let yourself be pressured into making a purchase you’ll regret.
Check out this awesome video of some blues jamming on an Emperor Joe Pass semi acoustic guitar along with an A major marine band harmonica. This guitar sounds gorgeous and keep in mind the song played is a remix of several different recordings.
This video explains very simply and clearly the difference between different styles of guitar, from classical acoustic to steel string, semi acoustic guitar and solid body electric. If you’re looking to start playing guitar this is a great guide on what sort of instrument to look at.
A lot of people confuse these two terms, however they refer to two very different kinds of guitar.
A semi-acoustic guitar, Like the Epiphone Emperor II shown below, is essentially an electric with a completely or partially hollow body.
Like an acoustic guitar they have a hollow body and one or two soundholes, often called f-holes because of their shape. Despite the hollow body, the shape of the body is more like that of an electric . A semi-acoustic is outfitted with pickups and played through an amp, like a regular electric guitar. The main reason for the hollow body is not to provide amplification like in an acoustic, but to change the sound or tone of the instrument when it’s plugged in.
An acoustic electric guitar on the other hand is prettty much a regular acoustic with a pickup or a microphone added to allow it to be played through an amp. The takamine acoustic electric shows the panel that allows the guitar to be plugged in and setting such as volume and tone to be controlled.
The difference between these two guitars is very clear. The semi-acoustic is pretty much an electric guitar, the acoustic electric pretty much an acoustic guitar. Both can be played amplified or not, but can have downsides such as lack of volume when unplugged on the semi-acousitc and feedback on the acoustic electric when plugged in.
A semi-acoustic guitar, is a type of guitar that combines the properties of an electric and an acoustic guitar. Semi-acoustic guitars are characterized by one or more electric pickups combined with an acoustic sound box. The sound box results in a more hollow body than a typical electric, which is why semi-acoustic guitars may also be referred to as hollow-body guitars.
Since a semi-acoustic guitar has both a sound box and electric pickups it can be played either through an amplifier like a conventional electric, or un-amplified like an acoustic. Typically semi-acoustic guitars are played amplified, since they cannot produce as much volume as a acoustic when played un-amplified. Why the hollow body then? One word: tone.
The tone of a guitar is determined by many factors, such as the pickups used, the amplifier it is played through and the strings used. Another very important factor in the tone is the material and design of the body. This is the reason for the hollow body of a semi-acoustic guitar. When played through an amplifier the semi-acoustic guitar has a tone that is simply not reproducible by a normal electric guitar.
The unique tone of a semi-acoustic guitar is what makes it so popular among jazz and big band guitarists
